There are many special places to visit in the Nhulunbuy area
So you have taken the trouble to get your free transit permit from the Northern Lands Council and driven out on the Central Arnhem Highway to this remote town and to what some journalists call “Australia’s last true wilderness frontier”. When you get into town, what can you expect to see and do and what do you need to know.
Like any remote area trip, you will have carried out as much possible homework on what there is to see and do around
Nhulunbuy and one thing will be clear from the very start, is that this area still has a very strong Traditional Yolnu Aboriginal Culture and for this very reason there will be restrictions and limited access to many areas. To monitor tourist numbers, there are two types of additional permits that you will need to purchase when you arrive in
Nhulunbuy.
Your first port of call.....the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation for your permits
Take special note of the opening hours
History sign outside of the Office
Memorial rocks to important Yolnu Elders
Large canoe hand made from a large tree
Inside the Dhimurru Office
The Northern Lands Council cannot issue these local permits and they must be obtained from the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, located at Lot 1620, Arnhem Road,
Nhulunbuy, not far from the Toyota dealer as you drive into town. When we went into the office to get our permits, I also purchased a great little book called “Visitors Guide” for $10 which gives you all the details on every area that you can go and what there is to see and do. The two permits fall into two categories, with the first the most important permit to purchase first, which is called the “General Permit”.
You need a General Permit to visit the Roy Marika Lookout
Roy Marika Lookout
Roy Marika Lookout
Roy Marika Lookout overlooks the township of Nhulunbuy
This permit will give access to all the Recreational Areas on Aboriginal land in and around
Nhulunbuy. You can purchase the permit for varying periods of time and as we could only spend a week there, we purchased the 7 days General Permit. Depending where you intend to stay, there are a number of locations where you can
bush camp with the camping fees incorporated in the cost of this permit.
EO Topo Map of the Nhulunbuy area
The second permit to purchase is strictly limited in vehicle numbers to only four locations in the area south of the township of
Nhulunbuy, being
Memorial Park, Wonga Creek,
Scout Camp and
Cape Arnhem. The only place that we could visit was
Cape Arnhem which is limited to only 10 vehicles per day, while Wonga Creek was closed to the public due to a very large crocodile that was causing a few problems and
Memorial Park and
Scout Camp that were booked out, as they only allow a maximum of 5 vehicles at a time in those two areas.
Nhulunbuy is a modern town that once held a very large workforce, mainly employed in the mining and production of bauxite that is still mined in the area today, but sadly with the closing of the production plant, more than 2000 workers lost their jobs and this has greatly affected the town, with now a big push to increase tourist numbers to help the local community survive. There is only one service station in the town, and it is easy to locate and impossible to miss. The town is also serviced by a large Woolworths
Supermarket that has all the usual supplies that are found in any
supermarket around Australia, with the one exception of all supplies come in by sea on the weekly barge, so things like fresh milk, meat and fruit and vegetables usually sells out quickly and it could be days before their new supplies arrive. There is no
Tourist Information Centre in town, but either the Walkabout Lodge or the local Town Corporation can assist with basic information on the area if you have not purchased the helpful “Visitors Guide” from the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation.
One of the main streets in Nhulunbuy
You will need to apply for a special permit to purchase alcohol in Nhulunbuy
The Walkabout Lodge is a great base for your activities around Nhulunbuy
Accommodation in
Nhulunbuy is catered for by the Walkabout Lodge, which offers both Motel type accommodation as
well as a secure
campground at the back of
the Lodge, with both powered and non-powered sites on a lawned area, with laundry and shower and
toilet facilities. If you are
free camping out in one of the areas where you can
camp with your General or Special Permit, you can also use the facilities at
the Lodge that are on offer, but for a fee.
Inverell Bay
Locals now use this as a good fishing spot
Some of the old processing plant at Inverell Bay
At the Inverell Bay Procession plant
Australian Border Force office at Inverell Bay
Everything is coated in the red bauxite dust that stains everthing
Looking back towards the Processing Plant ruins from the wharf area.
Looking back from the Border Force building
In time, all these building will be demolished
The Wharf area with a Customs boat at the end of the wharf
All roads in the township and west of the town out to the old processing plant and beach areas are bitumen, so travel is very easy. Once out of the town and when you head south to other attractions in the area, you are back onto those deep red dirt roads that are
well maintained. If the clear blue seawaters tempt you, I would strongly suggest that you seek local advise first before a dip, as you are in crocodile country and even
the beach area near the caravan park was visited each night by a mid size local croc, so you must be aware on the
lookout at all times.
The Melville Bay Boat Ramp Area
The Melville Bay Boat Ramp Area
The Melville Bay Boat Ramp Area
The Melville Bay Boat Ramp Area
The main road heading to Drimmie Head
Evidence of cyclone damage
Evidence of cyclone damage
Drimmie Head
Drimmie Head
Drimmie Head
Not the usual sign to see at a boat ramp
The weather when we visited
Nhulunbuy in August 2017 did not vary at all, with a constant 29° every day and dropping down to 20° at night with slight cloud cover. Even at 11pm at night, it was still 26° with a very slight sea breeze that kept the mosquitoes at bay. The only night that there was no sea breeze, it only dropped down to 24° by 6am the next morning and seeing that I have the type of blood that mosquitoes just love, I had to use a good quality tropical strength insect repellent to keep them at bay while sitting outside and enjoying that beautiful balmy night, which were just perfect, knowing that if we were back
home in
Clare, it would still a nice 17° in the morning, but aided from our slow combustion wood heater that runs 24/7 from late April to usually early October every year.
It does not matter where ever you go, you will see these warning signs everywhere
Crocodile Creek
Warning Sign at Crocodile Creek
Crocodile Creek beach area
East Woody Beach
East Woody Beach
East Woody Beach
Middle Beach
Middle Beach
Middle Beach
Wirrwawuy Beach
Wirrwawuy Beach
Wirrwawuy Beach
The only day that we had an increase in daytime temperature was the day that we did the
Cape Arnhem drive, with it going to 33° behind
the beach area and we put it down to breeze at all and the reflected heat from the vibrant white sand. Once back onto the actual beach driving it was very comfortable again and those crystal clear waters looked so inviting, but we were not prepared to take our chances and waited until the crystal clear water of the swimming
pool back at
the Lodge.
Yirrkala
Yirrkala
Yirrkala
Yirrkala Art Centre
Yirrkala Art Centre
Yirrkala
Yirrkala
Yirrkala Art Centre
Yirrkala
Relics from World War 2 at the Gove Airport
Relics from World War 2 at the Gove Airport
Relics from World War 2 at the Gove Airport
Gove Airport
Gove Airport
Gove Airport
So for anyone interested in visiting an area that was once hard to get a permit to visit, I can recommend this special part of Eastern Arnhem Land where you can still drive around and in almost every cases by the only person at that special beach or fresh water lagoon, knowing that the tourist in there hundreds are at other locations in the northern parts of Australia.
Goanna Lagoon
Goanna Lagoon
Goanna Lagoon
Track out to the Latram River
Latram River
Latram River
You would never know what was around the next corner
Good dirt road heading towards the beaches south of Nhulunbuy
The camping area at Macassan Beach
Macassan Beach
Information sign about the special stone arrangements site
The historical stone arrangements at Macassan Beach
The historical stone arrangements at Macassan Beach
The main track to Little Bondi Beach
Where the soft sand starts at Little Bondi Beach
The track down to the beach
Warning sign at Little Bondi Beach
Little Bondi Beach
Little Bondi Beach
Turtle Beach
Turtle Beach
Turtle Beach
The track into Malibu Beach
Malibu Beach
Malibu Beach
The track to Rocky Bay required low range for a couple of big rock ledges
Rocky Bay
Rocky Bay
Traditional Aboriginal burn offs over the other side of Rocky Bay
Rocky Bay
Those two marks are croc slides, he disappeared before I could zoom in
On the track to Rocky Bay, and I would hate to think what was lurking in those Mangroves
Daliwuy Bay Road
Keep an eye out to see where the local artists have taken the bark from the trees
Traditional Aboriginal Burn Off alongside the Central Arnhem Highway new Nhulunbuy
Rainbow Cliff Beach
Rainbow Cliff Beach
Rainbow Cliff Beach
Rainbow Cliff is best viewed in the morning sunlight
The start of the Cape Arnhem Track - just hope there is no vehicle coming the other way
Now you can see why you will not want to meet another vehicle coming the other way
This sign is here for a very good reason
The Cape Arnhem Track
The Cape Arnhem Track - the Marine Debris Tree
The Cape Arnhem Track - make sure to stick above the high water mark - or else.....
The Cape Arnhem Track
The Cape Arnhem Track
The Cape Arnhem Track
The Cape Arnhem Track
The Cape Arnhem Track
The Cape Arnhem Track
Some local Bush Tucker on the beach
This is as far as you can go on the Cape Arnhem Track
This is as far as you can go on the Cape Arnhem Track
Cape Arnhem Beach
Cape Arnhem Beach
Cape Arnhem Beach
Time to air up before heading up the low range escarpment section on the Cape Arnhem Track
Daliwuy Bay was just perfect
Daliwuy Bay
Daliwuy Bay
Daliwuy Bay
Daliwuy Bay
Helpful Permit and contact details:
Northern Lands Council
https://www.nlc.org.au/visiting-aboriginal-land/apply-for-permitDhimurru Aboriginal Corporation
http://www.dhimurru.com.au/permits.htmlWalkabout Lodge
http://www.walkaboutlodge.com.au/My previous Blog for travelling the Central Arnhem Highway
https://www.exploroz.com/Members/58567.500/1/2018/Central_Arnhem_Highway.aspxStephen Langman
February 2018